An interesting story at the local news to Robins AFB, Georgia, notes that one of the roles of the Air Force chaplaincy is to protect troops’ right to religious freedom — but it doesn’t have to stifle religious exercise to do so [emphasis added]:

They defend the right to worship freely, even if other airmen’s views conflict with their own beliefs.

At the Robins Air Force Base tree lighting ceremony in early December, you would not have heard utterances of ‘”Seasons Greetings”, no mentions of “holiday trees” or talk about celebrations of a “winter solstice”.

That gathering of the troops, complete with hymns and prayers, was undeniably Christian.

That is protection of religious freedom. Religious freedom is not guaranteed by neutering everything and creating a generic, state-controlled non-deific solemnization. Religious freedom is protected by its practice by all who choose to do so.

One of the chapel staff who helped trim the Christmas tree at Robins was Airman Darrion Sanders — an atheist:

Assistant Chaplain Captain Jessica Prophitt…[helped] trim the tree.

So did Airmen Darrion Sanders, an atheist. Sanders said, “We welcome anybody of any faith.”

He said “we”, because he is a leader in the chapel program.

Sanders sees no conflict mixing organized religion with his pagan spirituality.

Robins apparently boasts another non-theistic chaplain assistant in SSgt Joshua Manglona:

Manglona deploys after Christmas to a combat zone, tasked with guarding a chaplain. Chaplains are prohibited from carrying weapons.

He will put his life on the line protecting a person of faith, even though he claims no religion of his own.

Because some critics have tried to stigmatize public expressions of faith, some people of faith will self-censor their personal religious beliefs even when they don’t have to. It would seem the Robins AFB chapel staff is an excellent example of what religious liberty really means. Believe what you want; practice what you believe. When all are free to exercise their faith freely, religious liberty thrives.

[The video was removed due to auto-play issues, but can be viewed here.]

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